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Among our global cities sample, 75% served as the gateway through which COVID-19 was diffused within their respective countries. We demonstrate that most global cities followed a common pattern in the pace and intensity of COVID-19's spread during the first wave of the pandemic. To assess this transmission mechanism, we assembled data about the population and COVID-19 cases in global cities and their associated countries, comparing their infection rates on a fixed date. Our hypothesis is that global cities became the gateway by which COVID-19 was introduced to many countries through the hypermobility of infected international travelers. This article examines how mobility networks can turn Global Cities into Pandemic Gateways. The relationship between cities, globalization and mobility has produced recurring urban challenges over time. Antibiotics are the mainstay of treatment, but there are concerns regarding the emergence of resistant pathogenic strains of Yersinia pestis, and their potential use in bio‐terrorism. Plague outbreaks have occurred in Australia, notably in Sydney (1900–1925), and continue to flare up in poorer communities, most recently in Madagascar (2017). In response, Venetians were among the first to establish the principles of quarantine and ‘Lazarets’ which we still use today.
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Venice was a major seaport, and each visitation of the plague (beginning in 1348) devastated the local population. The cause of the contagion was not known, nor was there a cure, which added to the widespread desperation and fear. The plague (or Black Death), ravaged Europe over several centuries with each pandemic leaving millions of people dead. This was worn by mediaeval Plague Doctors as protection according to the Miasma Theory of disease propagation. The costume features a beaked white mask, black hat and waxed gown. There is a distinctive Venetian carnival mask with sinister overtones and historical significance to physicians because it belongs to the ‘Doctor of the Plague’.